Program Details

What types of speakers can you expect to hear from at HBCE? See below for the 2018 speaker listing.

2019 speakers will be posted as they are confirmed later this summer.

2018 Keynote Speaker

Ron Goetzel, Ph.D.IBM Watson Health and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Session:What is the Latest Research in Workplace Health
Promotion?

Learn about new and emerging research on
workplace health promotion (wellness) programs and their impact on employee
health, medical costs, and productivity outcomes as well as the transition from
a return-on-investment (ROI) to a value-on-investment (VOI) approach. The
session will include the most recent and compelling studies in the field as
well as controversies surrounding the effectiveness of workplace programs. Dr.
Goetzel will also discuss best and promising practices revealed from a
benchmarking project supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation entitled
"Promoting Healthy Workplaces".

2018 Speaker List

Allan Brown, PT, Maine Employers' Mutual Insurance Company (MEMIC)

In a Dynamic Workplace, Don't Be Left Sitting Still

Over the past 60 years of work, there has been a shift from active to more sedentary job tasks and, instead of aches and pains from heavy lifting and manual work, our morbidity is increase because of inactivity. Employers are scrambling to find solutions to reduce their exposure to declining health in the workplace. A plethora of products and information has hit the market. Sit/stand work stations, ball chairs, treadmill desks, standing apps and "sitting is the new smoking" are the things we hear and see in the news. It can be difficult to separate the marketing chaff from the substantive solutions. Join this session to learn about subconscious behaviors and the powerful grip they have on our daily lives. You will see the impact of gravity on our bodies and how we adapt in a static workplace. Hear insights into these problems and solutions to transition to a more dynamic workplace.

Barbara Collura, RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association - VC

Infertility Benefits - The Impact on the Employer/Employee Relationship and How to Design a Family-Building Benefit

Infertility is a disease recognized by the World Health Organization that affects approximately 10% of the population. In 2016, RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association, in support of EMD Serono and ARC Fertility, conducted a survey of employees to determine the impact of employer-provided infertility benefits on the employee/employer relationship. Learn the results of the survey, as well as how these benefits increasingly affect the recruitment and retention of employees. Designing a "family-building" benefit makes various avenues of building a family available to employees for whom the inability to have a child is life-altering and a significant work distraction.

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Brett Powell, CWPC, American Institute for Preventive Medicine - VC

Intergenerational Wellness" Engaging the Most Diverse Workforce in History

There are more Millennials in the workforce than any other generational cohort. For the first time in history, there are four, very distinct generations working side by side. The way in which these different generations respond to technology, education, communication and their own health varies drastically. Expecting all generations to respond equally to wellness programs is outdated thinking. This engaging presentation will highlight the defining characteristics of each generation, share the latest research and case studies, while sending you home with concrete strategies to engage a multi-generational population in your wellness program.

​Catherine Ratcliffe, Sullivan Benefits - VC

Disease Management and Cost Containment in Your Benefits Plan

Your employee benefits plan is facing a real threat from high-cost treatments that manage serious symptoms of chronic illnesses. Disease management is an important piece to any benefit plan cost containment strategy, but it is essential to understand the cause-and-effect components of this type of program. Companies must recognize how each element and decision in developing their plan structure will impact and drive costs in different areas. They must also understand the importance of looking at the potential outcomes of these decisions in order to reduce the impact of high-cost illnesses and drugs on their overall plan cost.

This session will dive deep to look at the significant components and pros and cons of these programs. If your company is fully insured and your carrier includes a disease management program in your contract, what does that really mean? How can you evaluate the structure of the program and its true impact on your plan? What about a la carte disease management programs? What is right for your specific group and your plan design?

Hear how Metro Nashville Public Schools used a medical home-centered model to integrate new clinic services that drives a holistic approach to health for their employees. Learn how they were able to reinvest savings from the last seven years, unify and leverage data to determine what's working, and identify population trigger points. Hear about their unique attribution strategy that compares total medical costs and qualitative outcomes with non-clinic-delivered care in the community.​

​

​Dean M. Hoffman, LLC

Trends in Health and Welfare Funding: Validating What is Right For Your Organization​

The self-funding of group health plans is not a new concept for larger employers; however, many smaller plan sponsors, both public and private are seeking this funding method as a result of healthcare reform and the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This session will being with introductory concepts of partial self-funding including a breakdown of Third Party Administrator (TPA) vs Administrative Services Only (ASO) funding models. The emerging use of level-fundin, reference based pricing models and stop-lss contract types will be analyzed to avoid any possible landmines. Determine if your organization shoudl review its current funding model while learning best practices to smooth out potential gaps and facilitate the renewal process.

Does your employer measure how compensation and lost time policies effect yoru health care spend and worker's compensation experience? This session will focus on Human Capital performance monitoring and evaluation by using data collection, predicitive modeling, advanced analytics and whole person clinical intervention. This comprehensive approach has been used by many large employers for more than a decade. Using "early alert" capabilities, high-risk candidates are identified before they become high cost users - a key to lowering costs and improving individual work performance.Join this session to hear how employer are winning the battle of flat wages, increasing benefit costs and an increasing high cost claimant population by getting to the root of these issues. Schwan's Company​ will share how they have lowered costs and increased their understanding of the correlation and effectiveness of their compensation and benefit programs using this approach.

Dr. James M. Lance, D.O., Mayo Clinic

Organizational Leadership: Implementing a Culture of Safety

Implementing and sustaining a safety culture can be challenging. This session will demonstrate how to implement a team-based engagement model (TEM) within work units/teams to build a culture of safety. We will review the TEM process; identify five key safe behaviors, many of the organizational factors that influence safety; as well as describe how the TEM model has been implemented at Mayo Clinic. Specifically, the role of leaders, work units and individuals within the TEM model will be reviewed. The importance of psychologically safe environments to the employer and the impact of the team's performance will also be discussed. The lessons learned from this session can be applied to all types of employers to design safe systems, manage behavioral choices, provide higher quality services, measure improvements and reduce costs.

When Wellness Hits the Wall: How to Address Stress, Depression and Substance Abuse

Research indicates that stress, mental health and substance misuse, (1) contribute more to health care and productivity costs than typical "wellness" targets of a healthy lifestyle, (2) are often neglected in wellness initiatives such that employees with these concerns have limited lifestyle outcomes and (3) are significantly influenced by toxic work cultures. This presentation reviews evidence-based and workplace-focused tools that promote a more integrated "total well-being" mindset: stigma reduction, systemic stress solutions, team-oriented mindfulness, EAP peer-referral strategies, EAP-wellness integration and prevention of Rx misuse. Participants will receive "quick tips" and references to build or supplement strategies in their workplace.

Gabriel Mecklenburg, M.Phil., M.Sc, Hinge Health - VC

Manatee County Government and Hinge Health: Implementing Digital Care to Manage Musculoskeletal Conditions

Musculoskeletal conditions such as chronic back pain and arthritis are a top cost driver for virtually all employers – including Manatee County Government (MCG). Despite the fact that much of the cost is avoidable, particularly when it comes to surgery, few solutions exist to effectively tackle this problem. To address this, MCG partnered with Hinge Health, which has developed a digital program to reduce chronic pain and prevent the need for many surgeries. The program provides anytime, anywhere access to all aspects of clinically proven care, focused on the mind as much as the body; exercise therapy (guided by wearable motion sensors); patient education; and behavioral health interventions, including coaching and cognitive behavioral therapy..

​Jane Gile, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, City of Manchester, New Hampshire - VC

Partnering to Cure Employer Drug Costs

Specialty drugs take up an increasing percentage of employers' total drug spend, and employers want to change this trend. The human resources director of the City of Manchester will explain how they saved over half a million dollars on one drug. The tactic: Partner with health plans and vendors to incentivize employees to seek low-cost, same-quality alternatives to hospital-dispensed drug therapies. Now the city is partnering with their health plan and engagement program vendor to incentivize patients to shop for better costs on prescription drugs. They've also developed four different strategies to bring down overall costs and curb abuse of prescription drugs.

Joan M. Troester, M.B.A., CEBS, SPHR, University of Iowa - VC

A Focus on the Employee Experience: Moving Benefits and Well-Being Programs From Cost Containment to Supporting the Talent Agenda

People are the most important asset of an organization. As human resource functions comprehensive strategies around a talent agenda, benefit and well-being programs will need to work outside silos in support of these goals. No longer will it be sufficient to contain costs; rather, the emphasis will be placed on the employee experience, employee engagement and how benefits and well-being programs are positively linked to these efforts. In 2017, University of Iowa Human Resources launched its Talent@Iowa initiative and a new HR vision with a focus on shaping an inclusive culture that drives excellence and innovation by supporting talent, engagement and the employee experience. In this session, learn how benefits and well-being programs, as a part of a total rewards philosophy are positioned to support and add value to this agenda..

JoAnne Eickhoff-Shemek, Ph.D., FASCM, FAWHP, University of South Florida

Physical inactivity is the biggest public health problem in the United States. Although there are numerous health benefits with regular physical activity, many Americans are not meeting the U.S. Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. To help address this public health problem, the Exercise is Medicine® (EIM) initiative was developed to help health care providers encourage their patients into a regular exercise program. This session will describe the steps health care providers can take (e.g. prescribing exercise, referring patients to EIM-credentialed exercise professionals) to implement EIM into their practice and how it can be integrated into a company's wellness program as an effective population health management strategy.

Karen L. Bathanti, Macomb County, MIchigan - VC

How a Voluntary Benefit Program Can Improve Employee Satisfaction

Like many public sector employers, Macomb County, Michigan has faced significant cuts, furlough days and an across-the-board reduction in benefit offerings to employees. Although the benefit package is still considered competitive, the workforce has asked for more. Faced with this concern, the HR department pursued the concept of offering a voluntary benefit plan. In collaboration with a benefit consultant, gaps were identified and possible solutions were ultimately implemented. Today, the program offers a variety of attractive and competitive voluntary benefits, enhancing employee satisfaction and engagement. Over 45% of employees participate.

This session provides details on how to conduct a thorough analysis to determine if a voluntary benefit program is right for your organization. It will also address how to choose the best, cost-effective and appropriate offerings, how to communication the program through a variety of fun and exciting events and how to gain buy-in from senior leaders.​

Karen van Caulil, Ph.D., Florida Health Care Coalition - VC

How Employers Can Impact the Opioid Epidemic

We've all read the headlines – Addiction to prescription opioids is at an all-time high. However, unless you know someone impacted personally, how can you make a difference? Join this session to hear how the Florida Health Care Coalition is working with their employer members to effect positive change and how these concepts can be applied to your workplace. Hear an employer discuss ways to make a difference in their workforce and in their surrounding communities.

Kim Stroud, M.A., LMHC, Manatee County Government - VC

Manatee County Government and Hinge Health: Implementing Digital Care to Manage Musculoskeletal Conditions

Musculoskeletal conditions such as chronic back pain and arthritis are a top cost driver for virtually all employers – including Manatee County Government (MCG). Despite the fact that much of the cost is avoidable, particularly when it comes to surgery, few solutions exist to effectively tackle this problem. To address this, MCG partnered with Hinge Health, which has developed a digital program to reduce chronic pain and prevent the need for many surgeries. The program provides anytime, anywhere access to all aspects of clinically proven care, focused on the mind as much as the body; exercise therapy (guided by wearable motion sensors); patient education; and behavioral health interventions, including coaching and cognitive behavioral therapy.

Lauren Holm, CWWPM, CWWS, Richland County, South Carolina

Richland County: Leveraging Resources to Stretch a Limited Budget

Join this session to hear how the human resources staff of Richland County, South Carolina developed a wellness program ("Rich Health") for their employees on a limited budget that started with biometrics and flu shots and developed into a multifaceted outcomes-based program. Learn what community and other low-cost and no-cost resources they leveraged in building their program. Hear how they developed a communication strategy in-house to reach employees where they are. Discuss how a diverse committee of employees has helped champion the program to achieve higher-than-average participation and how a little healthy competition amongst participants has contributed to the success.

Linda Robertson, CEBS, CFP®, ChFC®, Financial Finesse - VC

The Gender Gap in Health and Financial Well-Being

Join this session to explore the societal, psychological and practical barriers to gender parity for health and financial well-being in the workplace. Learn how gender can influence individuals in areas such as cash flow, retirement, preparedness, investing confidence, health symptoms, health risks and reactions to work stress. Hear results from industry studies that explored topics such as how financial behaviors and outcomes differ by gender and the past disproportionate funding of health research by gender. Learn best practices to help employers close gender gaps and promote overall workplace well-being. ​

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​Melanie Hancock Brown, HILL WARD HENDERSON - VC

Employee Benefits Compliance "Hot" Topics

Hot topics of 2018, including but not limited to:

​Affordable Care Act (ACA) updates

Impact of Executive Orders

HIPAA audits and cybersecurity

​

Michael S. Jacobs, RPh, ARMSRx Pharma​cy Benefit Consultants - VC

Managing Your Pharmacy Benefit Investment

Join this session for a discussion of the pharmacy benefit industry – past, present and future. Learn how changes in the industry such as technological advances, industry consolidation and prescribing patterns impact your plan over time. Receive action steps that you can consider to manage the cost of your pharmacy benefits in the future.

Join this session to explore the societal, psychological and practical barriers to gender parity for health and financial well-being in the workplace. Learn how gender can influence individuals in areas such as cash flow, retirement, preparedness, investing confidence, health symptoms, health risks and reactions to work stress. Hear results from industry studies that explored topics such as how financial behaviors and outcomes differ by gender and the past disproportionate funding of health research by gender. Learn best practices to help employers close gender gaps and promote overall workplace well-being.

Does your employer measure how compensation and lost time policies effect your health care spend and worker's compensation experience?This session will focus on Human Capital performance monitoring and evaluation by using data collection, predicitive modeling, advanced analytics and whole person clinical interveition. This comprehensive approach has been used by many large employers for more than a decade. Using "early alert" capabilties, high-risk candidates are identified before they become high cost users - a key to lowering and improving individual work performance.Join this session to hear how employers are winning the battle of flat wages, increasing benefit costs and increasing high cost claimant population by getting to the root of these causes. Schwan's Company will share how they have lowered costs and increased their understanding of the correlation and effectivelness of their compensation and benefit programs using this approach.

Rachael Baker, MSW, CWPM, ​Aetna - VC

Mindfulness in Business

Join this session to learn how mindfulness is growing in the workplace, how it connects to benefits and wellness, and the impact it has on productivity and the bottom line. Participants will hear examples of specific mindfulness programs that are being implemented in public schools to benefit teachers, staff and students alike – as well as hearing about Aetna's journey to becoming a top "mindful" company. Learn how to practice mindfulness, the common misconceptions about mindfulness and the many benefits of mindfulness. Learn applicable examples of how employers can successfully integrate these concepts into their employee culture. This session will include a guided mediation.s.

Rebecca Johnson, M.S., CHWC, Corporate Fitness Works

An Organization's Hierarchy of Needs, Maslow Style

Individuals and organizations are complex and interconnected. Creating the conditions in which personal and professional transformation can occur for employees at all levels requires a comprehensive approach that honors this truth and that goes way beyond the conventional "wellness or else" model. Taking a lesson from Maslow's well-known hierarchy of needs, this session introduces the Thriving Organization Pyramid, a new paradigm model​ that explains why the traditional approach to organizational and employee health fails – and what to do instead.

Rob Graybill, Vitals - VC

Partnering to Cure Employer Drug Costs

Specialty drugs take up an increasing percentage of employers' total drug spend, and employers want to change this trend. The human resources director of the City of Manchester will explain how they saved over half a million dollars on one drug. The tactic: Partner with health plans and vendors to incentivize employees to seek low-cost, same-quality alternatives to hospital-dispensed drug therapies. Now the city is partnering with their health plan and engagement program vendor to incentivize patients to shop for better costs on prescription drugs. They've also developed four different strategies to bring down overall costs and curb abuse of prescription drugs.

Join this session to learn how the North Carolina Office of State Human Resources developed and implemented a successful financial wellness program to assist employees on a range f financial topics. Hear how the state coordinated and communicated resources to start the program and continue it successfully over time. Discuss how this program has educated employees on financial wellness topics such as estate planning, trusts and saving money. Hear examples of how the education includes teaching ways to best take advantage of the state's benefits package, including the State Retirement System, 401 (k)/457 and other benefits offered.

Rosa Novo, ​Miami-Dade County School District - VC

How Employers Can Impact the Opioid Epidemic

We've all read the headlines – Addiction to prescription opioids is at an all-time high. However, unless you know someone impacted personally, how can you make a difference? Join this session to hear how the Florida Health Care Coalition is working with their employer members to effect positive change and how these concepts can be applied to your workplace. Hear an employer discuss ways to make a difference in their workforce and in their surrounding communities.

​

Susan Tufts, M.A., L.L. Bean, Inc. - VC

Measurement and Evaluation: How to Use Data to Change Behavior and Build Organizational Support

L.L. Bean has had a wellness program in place for over 35 years and, throughout that time, they've learned a lot! One of their greatest lessons has been the importance of data and, even more important, sharing that information with leaders and employees throughout the organization.

Whether you are measuring participation, health risks or return on investment, there are ways to use that information to education your people and help them understand the impact of employee well-being on your workforce.

This session will give you real examples of how L.L. Bean has measured and used their population's data – as well as ways you could potentially apply this information to your organization.

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Suzanne F. Delbanco, Catalyst for Payment Reform - VC

A Road Map for Employers Seeking Higher Value Health Care

Traditionally, the "name of the game" for employers and other health care purchasers has been to trade volume for discounts and avoid disruption for their employees – strategies that are not focused on achieving the best value in health care. Risking health care costs and questionable quality have employers looking for more effective options. Join this session to learn about a road map for employers seeking tangible actions they can take to get better value for their health care dollar. Learn strategies available to employers, such as pushing for effective payment reform, implementing innovative benefit designs and demanding price and quality transparency. Ultimately, employers have the power to improve the health marketplace if they can align and ask for the same things.